Monday, June 1, 2009

Recruit Kyle Palmieri shines at NHL Combine

Palmieri committed to Notre Dame in September 2007 and will join the Irish for the upcoming 2009/2010 season. A highly touted recruit and potential 1st Round pick in this year's NHL Draft, Palmieri has already proved himself on the national stage, even scoring a hat trick for the U.S in the Five Nations Tournament final in February.

In 33 games with the USNTDP U-18 squad this past year, Palmieri had 15 goals and 15 assists, along with 51 penalty minutes. In international play, he added an additional 5 goals (4 of which were game-winenrs) and 4 assists in 8 games.

Much discussion erupted when Palmieri was kicked off of the US U-18 team late this season for refusing to reveal names in an off-ice incident that took place in a hotel room. Reportedly, his roommate and other members of the team were with Swedish girls in his hotel room and were drinking.

Refusing to implicate teammates can certainly be taken a positive. I don't care what others say: Palmieri has character for making the decision he made.

Ranked 23rd by ISS, 26th by THN, and 20th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, Palmieri was certainly well touted before the combine; now, one can only assume that he is moving up draft boards even more.

According to TSN

"KylePalmieri is ripped - he took off his shirt and everyone in the room turned their heads to see that the guy is cut."